DENVER — The U.S. Congress could make major changes to a federal food assistance program that hundreds of thousands of Coloradans depend on to feed their families.
More than 600,000 Coloradans receive food assistance benefits through the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to data from the Colorado Department of Human Services. That represents a 38% increase from 5 years ago.
For Coloradans struggling to afford food, the SNAP is a critical lifeline.
“Food prices are higher and folks are accessing nutrition programs more than ever before,” said Sarah Mason with Feeding Colorado, an association of five Colorado food banks.
Mason said SNAP is able to provide families with more help than food banks.
“For every meal food banks and food pantries provide, SNAP can provide nine meals,” said Mason. “It's a highly effective, targeted program.”
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives want to rein in some of the spending on SNAP, saying too much money is being wasted or lost through fraud.
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The Government Accountability Office estimates SNAP benefit fraud could cost taxpayers between about $1 billion and $4.7 billion each year.
“Every single dollar that goes to waste, fraud and abuse for these SNAP programs is a dollar that cannot go to feed a hungry child and that’s reprehensible,” said U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisconsin, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture.
The Republican plan is part of the Farm, Food and National Security Act — also known as the farm bill — that the committee advanced earlier this year.
But limiting future spending increases could result in up to $30 billion being cut from SNAP over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a left-leaning think tank, released an analysis on the Republican plan.
“Every SNAP participant would experience a benefit cut: Roughly $7 less per person per month over the 2027-2031 period and $15 less per month in 2032 and 2033,” CBPP analysts said, adding that the cuts “would equal a day’s worth of benefits each month initially, rising to almost two days’ worth by the end of the decade.”
Mason said cuts to SNAP would likely place more demand on Colorado food banks.
"Because they're not able to potentially utilize SNAP as much as they may have been able to a few years ago,” said Mason.
Democrats have unveiled their own plan in the U.S. Senate, which expands SNAP eligibility for military families and college students and calls for studying the impact of letting recipients buy hot foods, which they are currently unable to do.
“The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act gives farmers the certainty they need, ensures rural communities can thrive, and puts food on the table for families who need a little bit of help,” said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
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Bill that funds SNAP, other food programs unlikely to pass through this Congress
While there are major differences when it comes to SNAP spending, both the Republican and Democratic plans would remove a lifetime ban that prevents people with felony drug convictions from signing up for SNAP. Colorado opted out of the federal ban in 2022.
Farm bills are typically renewed every five years. But lawmakers have not been able to reach an agreement on a new one.
With only a few weeks left of the current Congress, lawmakers are likely to pass another extension of the current farm bill, which was passed in 2018.
It will therefore fall to the new Congress and incoming Trump Administration to approve a new farm bill and decide what changes to make to SNAP.
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